Chapter 7

"We need that girl Emily!" Derek bellowed. His face was contorted in pure rage. The woman in front of him cowered backwards. Addie recognized her vaguely as the one from the woods, the one that held the knife to Jace's throat.
"We had her and you let her slip through your fingers! I should never have trusted you and the other incompetent fools to do anything!" Suddenly, he turned around and smashed his fist into a table, shattering it into a million tiny splinters. Addie could almost see the smoke steaming out of his ears.
"BRING ME THAT GIRL!" The roar that he released shook the entire room and sent the woman and other whimpering guys scrambling to be first to escape out the door. Addie's gave a half choked gasp as her eyes shot open. She looked around wildly. She was lying in a bright room. The leaf green walls and large windows that let in the warmth of the sun gave off a bright and calming atmosphere. The bed she was resting in was extremely comfortable. That combined with quilted blankets made her hesitant to leave the bed. Eventually she heaved herself into a sitting position, taking the time to see what she couldn't lying down. Two doors sat against the walls, presumably one for the hallway and one for a bathroom, but she couldn't be sure
Addie's gave a half choked gasp as her eyes shot open. She looked around wildly. She was lying in a bright room. The leaf green walls and large windows that let in the warmth of the sun gave off a bright and calming atmosphere. The bed she was resting in was extremely comfortable. That combined with quilted blankets made her hesitant to leave the bed. Eventually she heaved herself into a sitting position, taking the time to see what she couldn't lying down. Two doors sat against the walls, presumably one for the hallway and one for a bathroom, but she couldn't be sure until she checked. She found herself mesmerized by the view outside.
Beyond the windows was a large green meadow that extended as far as she could see. The grass swayed lazily under the light wind. Tearing her eyes away, she pitched her legs over the side of the bed, slipped on her tennis shoes, and stood up. Instantly, a wave of dizziness assaulted her. The world tilted dangerously, making her tumble into the wall under its strength. Slowly, everything drifted back into focus and she cautiously straightened up. Her head throbbed something terrible, and recollection came to her. The hazy memories of the fight flitted inside her head. This must be where Calvin had taken her. He must be around here somewhere. She edged to the door and swung it open. She was at the end of the hall so she began to walk down it. Room after room appeared on either side of her, surprising Addie. If the other hallway was identical to this one, this floor could easily house over a hundred people. After what seemed like an eternity, she made it to the grand staircase. After a glance upward revealed nothing but what was probably more rooms, she descended. The walls were fairly bare. This place reminded her of a hotel; albeit a nice one. An impressive foyer was at the base of the stairs. Its marbled floor was polished to perfection. Someone obviously spent many hours cleaning it. Feeling somewhat guilty about tramping her muddy shoes all over it, she quickly walking to the left. A living room stood before her, equipped with leather sofas, a foosball machine, a mini fridge, and a flat screen TV seated on the wall. Settled into one of the loveseats was a girl with long blonde hair. Addie awkwardly hesitated in the doorway before clearing her throat when the girl didn't notice or just frankly chose to ignore her presence. The girl took her time in turning her head.
When her blue eyes finally found its mark, Addie felt as if the glare was burning a hole in her head. Addie had only witnessed such anger from one of those creatures from the forest. Abruptly, her expression morphed into one of blatantly false kindness. A moment later Calvin entered the room while Addie was still reeling from the 180 this girl had done. He glanced warily between the two girls before speaking.
"Oh good, you're up," he addressed Addie. "We thought you would sleep the morning away. I suppose I have to pay up to Jace now. He bet you would wake up right before noon." He glanced casually at the clock to confirm his statement.
"I bet that you wouldn't wake up at all." The girl's eyes easily portrayed the hidden meaning. She had hoped Addie would never wake up.
"And I see you've met Jaime. Jamie Stuart, this is Adelaide Taylor." Jamie's falsely welcoming smile churned Addie's stomach. She took the other girls extended hand, her eyes widening slightly at the force of her grip. When Jamie tightened her hold considerably, she refused to show that the pain and stared the other girl boldly in the eyes. A sharp throb shot down the side of her head, finally making her avert her eyes with a wince. Jamie, who mistook the show of pain for her own doing smirked quickly in victory while Calvin wasn't looking. Addie rolled her eyes at the childish display and turned towards the mysterious Calvin.
"Who is this girl?" She asked, not unkindly. His typical grin faded quickly and he seemed to hesitate. His hand went back and rubbed at the nape of his neck. Jamie, who had seen the way they acted towards one another, pounced on the awkward moment like a shark will to blood in the ocean. She strolled over and snaked her arm around his waist. She looked up at him innocently.
"What's wrong Calvie? You aren't embarrassed of me are you, baby?" Her voice wavered fakely and she made her eyes water a little.
"No. I'm not. Jamie is my..." He seemed to be searching for a certain word.
"He's my fiancé," She stated triumphantly. Calvin frowned at the word slightly before nodding his head slowly.
"Yes, fiancé is a good word for it." Addie blinked a few times in utter disbelief. When she found her voice she took a step back and forced what she hoped was a believable smile.
"That's great. Congratulations. I think I'll go take a shower. I probably smell to high heaven..." She trailed of uncomfortably, unsure what else to say.
"That's a good idea. I'll come with you and get you the stuff." Jamie's smile was positively wolfish. She kept up with Addie as she spun and took off towards her room as fast as she could without making it seem like the moment had bothered her. Jamie threw some soap and a towel at her, exiting the room with a satisfied smirk. Addie closed the bathroom door, slowly sliding down a wall as her emotions got the best of her.
What had she been thinking? Who would want a girl like her anyways? A Plain Jane with brown hair and green eyes. Not to mention she was a freak. Something kept happening to her. Maybe it was a brain aneurism. It didn't matter. She could never compete with the blonde haired goddess down there. She was utterly beautiful. Someone worthy of someone like Calvin. She even had a perfect body, whereas Addie's body was just average. No other guys had shown her even a shred of interest, why did she think for one second someone might have liked her?Addie dragged herself to the shower and sat under the hot stream as tears rolled silently down her cheeks. She sat there long enough for the water to turn ice cold before reluctantly getting out. Standing there for a few moments, she reigned in her emotions. She would have to forget her feelings for Calvin. Sure he was sexy and had perfect hair, and a perfect smile, and a perfect voice...it didn't matter because he was engaged and that was the end of that. With that thought she got changed back into the clothes that were lying on the bed and sat down. They were too
Addie dragged herself to the shower and sat under the hot stream as tears rolled silently down her cheeks. She sat there long enough for the water to turn ice cold before reluctantly getting out. Standing there for a few moments, she reigned in her emotions. She would have to forget her feelings for Calvin. Sure he was sexy and had perfect hair, and a perfect smile, and a perfect voice...it didn't matter because he was engaged and that was the end of that. With that thought she got changed back into the clothes that were lying on the bed and sat down. They were too big and hideous, from Jamie more than likely, but they were clean nonetheless.
Before long, someone knocked at the door. Steeling herself for the possibility that it could be Calvin on the other side, she hesitantly opened it. Who she found instead was a large man. He was easily six and a half feet and pure muscle. She had never seen someone so huge in her life. He had brown hair with eyes that were currently assessing her to match. When he spoke, his voice was gruff but welcoming.
"Hello Adelaide-"
"Please, call me Addie," She interrupted before thinking, but he seemed unfazed and instead smiled pleasantly.
"Alright Addie. It is nice to meet you. My name is Jim. Do you know why you are here?" Addie bit her lip in thought, unsure of what she remembered.
"Well I was helping Calvin with something and he ran off really fast. I was worried he needed help so I followed him into the woods. There I found him with Jace and a guy named Derek. They were arguing about something then Derek...he-" She cut off in an effort not to sound insane. Who would believe that a man turned into a creature and did what was impossible to humans.
"Go ahead Addie. I won't judge you." Addie reluctantly continued the story.
"Well, the guy...he changed into something. He had big teeth and ears and he had claws at the end of his fingers." She looked at him to gauge his reaction. To her surprise, he didn't seem shocked at her story at all. "Then he attacked Jace and Calvin tried to help, but Derek was winning so I tried to help. He hit me...but Calvin saved me and made Jace and me run away. Then there was a woman and a whole group of guys and they were trying to kill Jace and there was a pressure inside my head and then it felt like the world exploded." Addie could still feel the strange sensation creeping around in her mind. "What were those things?" "They were werewolves. Evil ones. We call them The Turned." She huffed a laugh.
"Werewolves. Yea right. There are no such things. They were probably in some costume from Party City and hyped up on speed or something picking fights for fun." But Addie knew it was true. She was there. She saw them and witnessed their speed and strength. There was no way they could do what they did, even with the aide of some type of drug.
"It's true Adelaide," He switched to her full name to get her attention, "They were werewolves. Actually we are too. Me, Jace, Jamie, Calvin; everyone in this house. We're all werewolves."